Many states have used lottery or on-line games, such as number games (for example, Pick 3, Pick 4, Lotto, Mega Millions, etc.) and “instant winner” games, as an added source of revenue. These games have become quite popular and successful.
One type of state-run lottery game involves the use of numerous remote computer stations located in stores throughout the state which communicate with a central computer. A customer seeking to play the game may mark the numbers he wishes to enter as his choices on a computer scannable or readable entry form. The customer pays the entry fee, usually no more than a few dollars, and the store clerk feeds the entry form into a card reader controlled by a lottery computer station or terminal, which registers the numbers selected and an ID number in the central computer. Alternatively, the customer may choose several numbers, and the store clerk may enter the chosen numbers into the lottery computer by operating a keypad. In another variation, the customer may elect a Quick-Pick option that provides for random selection of the customer's numbers by a computer.
After wagering has been closed to new entries, a carefully monitored selection committee chooses the winning numbers. This may involve, for example, operating a machine loaded with balls having eligible numbers marked thereon to select at random the appropriate number of balls. This selection process often is broadcast on local television stations so that contestants can watch to see if their numbers have been selected.
Bingo is another popular form of gaming, in which participants engage as a pastime activity and/or in order to pursue their desire to wager. Each player in a bingo game receives a bingo card, which, in a traditional form of bingo, is a pre-printed card. The card contains a matrix of locations or spaces. As an example, a typical bingo card has a matrix of five rows and five columns of spaces, and each space has a corresponding bingo number (in a range of 1-75) printed in the space. As the bingo game is played, bingo numbers are drawn at random and “called” (i.e. announced to all of the players). If a called number matches any of the numbers on a player's card (i.e. the number is a “hit”), the player marks the space bearing that number. In order to win a bingo game, a player must achieve a predetermined winning pattern of hits (i.e. marked spaces) on his/her bingo card. The bingo cards may have one or more “free” spaces, which do not have a number and can form part of a winning pattern without being hit by any of the called bingo numbers.
Each game of bingo can have one or more winning patterns, as determined by the game's administrator (i.e. master of ceremonies or MC). The MC typically announces the selected pattern prior to commencement of the game. For example, in a typical game utilizing five-by-five bingo cards, the MC might announce that the winning pattern consists of hits in the five spaces in one row or column of the bingo card, or in the five spaces in one of the two main diagonals of a bingo card. In another game, the MC might announce that the winning pattern consists of hits in the four corner spaces of a bingo card.
In addition, a game may have progressive winning patterns. For example, once a player obtains hits on all of the corner spaces of his/her bingo card and collects a prize for that winning pattern, the game continues until a player obtains hits on the entire outside border of a bingo card, at which time a second prize is awarded. As another example of progressive winning patterns, the progressive winning patterns may consist of Letter X (FIG. 9A), Sputnik (FIG. 9B) and Blackout (FIG. 9C) patterns. Progressive winning patterns are typically announced in advance or as a game progresses, in order to maintain the interest of the players in the game.
A traditional bingo game is typically played in a single location, such as a bingo hall. In this traditional arrangement, players enter the game by purchasing or otherwise obtaining one or more bingo card which may be selected from a group of available cards, and then taking a seat in the bingo hall. Thereafter, the player monitors called numbers and marks his/her card(s) appropriately. It is a typical rule that when a player achieves a winning pattern of hits, the player must call out “bingo” in order to claim a prize. This rule encourages players to pay active attention to the game. When the player announces “bingo”, the player's card is compared to the called numbers to confirm that the player has won.
Bingo players who wish to increase their odds of winning may purchase multiple bingo cards (sometimes even half a dozen or more cards).
Many electronic and electromechanical devices have been proposed for assisting players with multiple bingo cards to keep track of their cards during a bingo game. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,651,995, 4,661,906 and 4,768,151, which are incorporated herein by reference. In addition, others have proposed computer-based systems for automating bingo games. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,909,516, 5,007,649, 5,043,887, 5,297,802, 5,351,970, 5,679,007, 5,687,971 5,904,619, 5,910,047, 5,921,865, 5,951,396, 6,024,641, 6,099,407 and 6,280,325, also incorporated by reference herein. Lottery bingo games, like other state-run lottery games, have been adapted for broadcast to a broad audience.
Integrity of the winner selection process significantly increases the cost of running lottery bingo games and other lotteries. For example, each broadcasted drawing conventionally requires several individuals (e.g., a host or hostess, an auditor, a camera crew, and a set-up crew) to be present, and a television studio equipped with camera and lighting equipment.
In addition, states and other entities running such lottery games have experienced some difficulties in increasing the number of interested day-to-day participants, and in maintaining the day-to-day interest of those who do participate on a regular basis.
As a result, a need exists for an automated lottery game which complies with government regulations without requiring extensive commitment of human and other resources, and which also enhances the intrinsic excitement of the game, in order to maintain and preferably increase the playing population.
In adapting bingo to the large-scale of state lottery games, the extraordinarily large number of possible bingo card configurations makes it very difficult to predict how many players may win at the same time. Unlike standard lottery games where the chances of having two or slightly more players simultaneously winning a game is rare and the chances of having an even larger number of players simultaneously win a game is nearly infinitesimal, the dynamics of bingo allow for a significant probability that a great number of players will simultaneously win a game.
Because all winning players share a prize, the potential for a great number of winners can significantly detract from the allure of the lottery where excitement is generated by the possibility of winning a large payout.
There is a desire to utilize a system and method for adapting bingo for a large-scale lottery in such a way as to obtain a liability profile that retains the allure of traditional lottery games.